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Re: Where to sell my darkroom equipment?

I looked at the local Los Angeles Craigslist and didn't see any Beseler CB7 enlargers for sale. That makes it hard to judge it's value. Same with my other items, I'm not finding any listings for them on line so far.

I wonder what the 30 day restriction is for...is the forum inundated with equipment for sale?

There is a local 2 year college with a large darkroom department, I'm going to approach them when I have an idea of values.

Re: Where to sell my darkroom equipment?

I've got some bad news for you. A few YEARS ago, a friend of mine who had made the switch from film to digital wanted to get rid of his analog gear -- which included lots of very nice, barely used darkroom equipment, such as TWO 4x5 Durst enlargers and Schneider lenses. He didn't want to make money on it and didn't want to spend time piece-mealing it out. He knew the gear was in good shape and thought it would be valuable to someone. I didn't want anything because I have all I need. He called all of the local colleges and universities in the area -- as well as high schools. They ALL just LAUGHED -- because they were trying to do the same thing!!! The major campus downtown with three colleges and over 50,000 students closed down their analog photo darkroom years ago.

As to the CB7 -- I have one. It is a good example. Great enlarger, but not many people know about it. Right now on EBAY there is one listed. It's in bad shape and the seller wants $150. He'll be lucky if he get $15. No one will pay to have it shipped, and no one in his town will want it -- OK, maybe to use it as a table leg.

My suggestion? If you have time -- and plenty of it, piece it out. For small items that can be shipped at a decent price, such as lenses, sell them on EBAY. Take good pictures and write good descriptions. For larger items, use Craig's List. For the items you can't sell, Craig's List has a FREE section under the FOR SALE section.

The FOR SALE section on this forum is fine, but you will have a world-wide audience on EBAY. About 1/3 of what I sell on EBAY is overseas!!! Polaroids that I find at the local thrift stores in the "throw-away" bin will sell for $75 to collectors in Japan -- where Polaroids were never sold.

I wish I had better news, but if you have the time, it can work out for you.

Re: Where to sell my darkroom equipment?

Traditional film/darkroom work is on the upswing in schools, at least in my experience talking to people about this, and some schools are lamenting that they ditched the darkroom gear in recent times. Yes, a few years ago seemed to be when this came to a head, and schools were tossing DR gear. But now they are scrambling to get that gear again - a sales rep told me a few months ago that most of their DR equipment sales are to schools right now. The photo prof at my alma mater is trying to get funding for a new darkroom build. So you may be surprised.

That being said, they aren't going to buy your stuff most likely, due to the myriad budget constraints and processes, but a wholesale donation might get you a very nice deduction on your taxes, depending.

Or put a single ad on Craigslist with that list of gear and a ballpark price for the lot and say you'll part it out as needed, first-come-first-serve, and you'll probably get some takers. But I don't know much about the market on that coast.

Re: Where to sell my darkroom equipment?

One of the charter schools in OKC that serves a mostly low-income/minority population has a photography class. It is FILM only and teaches small & medium format. They have a small, but well-equipped darkroom with mostly second-hand equipment. If you're willing to donate your stuff, try the high schools — there's probably something like that out in LaLa Land.

Re: Where to sell my darkroom equipment?

In short, the good news is "Good LucK'. I'm sure there is a school in Burkina Faso that is dying to set up a film-based darkroom. All they have to do is find a teacher who isn't dying and you can ship all your stuff to them -- at your expense -- and get a big, I MEAN HUGE -- tax break.

Re: Where to sell my darkroom equipment?

Corran is right. Using my college as an example, students never stopped taking darkroom photography courses. This is true even though we have a complete program aimed at digital-only. The college built a new darkroom and all the classes are still full.

He is also right that it is likely going to be hard to get colleges to take enlarger, etc. donations, even if they have a darkroom program. They typically have darkroom equipped with multiple copies of the same enlargers -- They all use the same parts. There may be one or two for larger formats, but don't expect to see a darkroom filled with a variety of brands/types of enlargers. On the other hand, they might be happy to accept donations of 35mm film cameras and lenses for students who cannot afford their own camera.

Where to sell my darkroom equipment?

I've given away two complete sets of darkroom equipment in the past year to high school students with interest in film photography. The local high school (best in the state) has a full-blown darkroom and 40 students in their photography courses, which cover both digital and film photography.